Runaway
by carameltootsieroll
Summary: Young Thalia wants nothing more than freedom. When she decides to runaway from home one night, she debates about whether freedom is worth the risk. Is any reward worth the risk? (A shoutout to liquifiedflames for the pretty cover!)


**A/N: **_**Hey everyonee! Here's a short one-shot of Thalia before the Lightning Thief, and before the Demigod Diaries. As I said before, I wanted to write a fanfic of Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth as runaways. But due to my procrastination, that work is still in-progress. As of now, here's Thalia's one-shot. And I guess I can also call this a little "teaser" for my upcoming fanfic. Enjoy! :D**_

**_Also, a shoutout to liquifiedflames (The site won't allow me to type your whole pen name!) for the pretty cover of this fanfic! Awesome, isn't it? :D_**

_**Disclaimer: **__**I do not own the PJO series, or any of the PJO characters. All rights belong to Rick Riordan!**_

_Run. _

_Run. _

_Run._

Outside, the rain poured relentlessly, hammering against the roof. Thalia glanced outside her bedroom window, her heartbeat echoing the pounding rain. _Run. Run. Run. Runaway._

She needed to run. She needed to get out of here. She knew that the monsters would come for her here. And besides, no one wanted her there. Her dad had left them. Her mom cared nothing about her. And her brother…gods knew what had happened to him.

_Jason….Jason…_Thalia gasped and forced the thought of her brother off her mind. But gods, she missed him terribly. Hopefully, once she was on the run, she would find a way to get him. She would find a way to see him again. If he really wasn't dead, Thalia just _knew_ she would see him again.

Lightning pierced through the night, illuminating her dark room for just a moment. Thunder followed soon after, rumbling through the chilly night air. Thalia shuddered. Her dad had probably heard her thoughts.

She clutched her backpack in her right hand, and held a note in her left. She was ready to leave. She was ready to run. She was ready for freedom.

She got off her bed and made her way to the door slowly. But just as her hand was on the doorknob, she paused and turned around, taking a moment to stare at her bedroom one last time. It was a place she had called her home for quite some time now. Leaving this house would leave Thalia with no place to call home. She wasn't even sure if she would survive out in the city.

_But sometimes you have to take the risk before you get the reward_, she thought. She would risk her safety and run away, and she knew she would be rewarded with freedom. Freedom. Yes, she was positive freedom was awaiting her.

Thalia's boots made a somewhat loud sound against the cold marbled floor. Once or twice, she stopped as she tripped over unseen things in the dark. Some of those things, she guessed, were broken beer bottles. Her mom's, most probably.

She reached the front door and slipped outside, wincing a little as the door creaked loudly and was slammed shut by the raging wind.

_Run._

_Run._

_Freedom._

_Freedom! _Thalia thought, her heart hammering quickly against her chest. She could feel the blood rise to her face and the rush of adrenaline that was brought by her excitement. _Freedom!_ Now that she was standing on the front porch of her house, all she needed to do was to bolt straight into the rain and the wind. Freedom was so close.

But she realized that she still held a note in her left hand. It was a scrunched and crumpled piece of paper, and Thalia unfolded it to read again for probably the hundredth time that day.

_Dear Mom,_

_Don't try to find me when I'm gone in the morning. I had to run away. I'm sorry I called the police about Jason's death. I'm sorry that you have to go through all those interrogations. You complain how all these are ruining your acting career, and you aren't getting any good publicity from it. But I promise, it's all for your own good._

_I'm running away. I'm sorry, but I really can't stand it here anymore. Jason…him being lost was the last straw. Please forgive me for leaving you. But I really need to find my brother. _

_ ~Thalia_

A drop of water splashed down on the note, blurring her name so that it looked more like _T—lia._ Her eyes stung, and she realized that she was crying and her tears had smudged her note.

Then her fingers curled into a fist, crumpling the paper in one swift motion. What would her mom care if she was gone anyway? Her mother had never liked her. She would never mind Thalia missing. It would probably even be a good thing for her; now the monsters wouldn't come crashing into her house, hungry for Thalia's blood.

_Run. Run. Runaway._

Thalia ripped up the paper, letting her tears flow, but reminding herself at the same time that once she was out of this place, she wouldn't have to worry about her mom. The torn-up pieces of paper fell to her feet. And just as quickly, the harsh wind swept them away into the stormy night.

_Freedom. Freedom. Freedom._

Thalia took a deep breath and pulled up the hoodie of her jacket. "Well," she thought aloud. "How hard can this get? I'm a demigod after all."

Then she ran off into the cold, stormy night. Not once did she look back. Her old home, her old life, she would do her best to forget. And maybe, just maybe, if she couldn't find Jason, she would even manage to forget about her beloved brother. Because now, in her runaway life, she had no time and no space to dwell on her old miseries. From now on, she had freedom. She was a runaway.

**A/N: So what do you guys think? Please tell me in your reviews!**


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